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Great Schism (Stel-verse)
The Great Schism (often nicknamed the Covenant Civil War or Endwar) was a galactic war which began as brief brauls between the Sangheili and Jiralhanae on Earth in October 2552. By November 2552, the Covenant split into three factions, the Covenant Loyalists under the leadership of the Prophets of Truth and Mercy, the Covenant Seperatists under the leadership of Arbiter Thel 'Vadam and members which were neautral throughout the war. This war sparked the near extinction of the San 'Shyuum species, the destruction of High Charity, the dissolution of the Covenant. It also lead to the creation of the Sangheili Confederacy. Combatants History Prelude Originally thought to begin on November 2552, the war's roots actually began to spread during the Battle of Earth. After the formation of the Covenant, the Prophet of Truth, Tranquility and Reincarnation, the first heirarchs of the Covenant, came upon a prophecy that layed out the timeline of the Covenant. The hierarchs read through the ancient text up until the point of Sesa 'Refumee's betrayal. This lead to the Prophet's assuming that the Sangheili will betray the Covenant, and created the Writ of Union so the Sangheili couldn't tamper with the San 'Shyuum's buisness. In the 2300's, the beastly Jiralhanae joined the Covenant, while the Prophet's considered their skill, the Sangheili were weary of the species. Jiralhanae ships were a rare sight in the Covenant, and even then were poorly geared. The main reason for this was simple; the Sangheili didn't trust the Jiralhanae. During the Battle of Reach, seeing that the Sangheili's betrayal was near, the Prophet of Truth dismissed the Chieftain, Tartarus' offer of eliminating the Sangheili before they strike at themHalo: Vendetta Prolouge. Violent acts were finally enacted after the Prophet of Regret retreated to Installation 05. Seeing no rules now they were abandoned, the Jiralhanae overtook the Sangheili's command of the ground forces, and slaughtered what remained of the Sangheili presence on Earth. However, as only the Office of Naval Intellegence took this event into account, the Sangheili didn't see the Jiralhanae as enemies. The Prophet of Mercy later discovered that the Sangheili heretics would actual be quelled by loyal Sangheili, however he couldn't prevent the war. Dissolution Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 assassinated the High Prophet of Regret mid-way through the Battle of Installation 05. As a result, the Prophet of Truth used this as an excuse to employ the Jiralhanae as their bodyguards. As a result, the Sangheili threatened to leave the High Council. The Prophet of Truth sent down the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam to Installation 05 to retrieve the 'Sacred Icon'. Upon deactivating the defences of the Sentinel Wall, the Flood were unleashed. The Prophet of Truth ordered the Chieftain Tartarus to steal the Sacred Icon from Thel 'Vadam, and kill the Arbiter. If Thel 'Vadam were to die, the Sangheili would of lost a great leader. Tartarus stole the Icon from the Arbiter and caused him to fall down into a pit. Unbeknowst to Tartarus, the Arbiter was caught by the Gravemind, saving his life. The Gravemind immediatly sent John-117 to High Charity where the Civil War had gone from small skirmishes to a full blown battle. The Prophet of Truth and Mercy retreated from John and the Sangheili. While Mercy refused to allow the Covenant to fracture, Truth's patience waned. By the time the Hierarchs and Tartarus reached the Phantoms, the Gravemind used the UNSC In Amber Clad to board High Charity, were he sent Flood-infested Pelicans across the city. The Flood assaulted the Phantoms, one of the Infection Forms attacking Mercy. Truth, who's patience had worn thin with Mercy's beggings for peace, refused to allow the Philogist to live, and departed for the Dreadnought. Upon the death of Mercy, two factions formed, the Covenant Seperatists and the Covenant Loyalists. The Sangheili fleets eventually defeated the Jiralhanae fleets around High Charity and quarantined the doomed city. The Prophet of Truth assaulted Earth, where the UNSC and Covenant Seperatists finally set aside their differences to fight familiar foes- the Loyalists and the Flood. The Loyalists lead an assault against numerous Earthern Cities and the UNSC base Crow's Nest, eventually, the Covenant were repelled and retreated back to the city of Voi. As the UNSC and the Arbiter destroyed the AA defences around Truth, Truth activated the artifact Regret had intially attempted to find. The Ark Portal. Soon after the Loyalist departure, the Flood crash landed on Voi, where Sangheili and Human soldiers fended off against the merciless onslaught. After the Flood was defeated, the Sangheili glassed half of Africa, preventing any Flood infection. The Cortana John-117 had discovered was infact a message, which told of a way to stop the Flood on the Ark. After little debate, the UNSC and Seperatists prepared to attack Truth where he stood. Battle of Installation 00 The Battle of Installation 00 was believed to be the final stand of the Covenant Loyalists. As sangheili ships arrived via slipspace, Truth's fleet immediatly engaged the enemy above the Ark. During the battle, the UNSC deployed SPARTAN-II John-117 and several Pelicans to the surface. The Monitor 343 Guilty Spark mentioned that something known as the Cartographer was their key to discover Truth's location. The UNSC Forward unto Dawn prepared to land as the location of the cartographer was revealed. The Master Chief, a squad of marines and a group of sentinels managed to eliminate the AA defences in the deserts. The Dawn deployed numerous vehicles and Pelicans to push through the Covenant defences. Invasion of Sanghelios Invasion of Te Reclamation of Te Battle for Doisac Invasion of Reach Despite the fact that the Battle of Reach had ended three years before, a large Jiralhanae presence still plagued Reach, operating from the last undamaged city Terrador. On a mission to rescue his long lost brother Rola, Stel 'Vadam and a group of Sangheili boarded the Relentless Massacre and set off for Reach. Although cut off from the rest of the Loyalists, the Jiralhanae were still aware that the humans had allied with the Sangheili mere months after the battle's conclusion. Gardinipus, secretly under the command of Ledipus, began to send squads to slay all of the remaining human citizens. Kig-Yar Assassin Tir-D-yar, along with Yir-T-sol and Kol-R-ah began plotting against Jiralhanae and humans of the city. They began recruitment in the city, and dozens of Kig-Yar and Unggoy joined his force. Shortly afterwards, the Relentless Massacre arrives just outside Terrador's entrance. The majority of the Sangheili began to search for Jiralhanae or any survivors of the battle. Stel 'Vadam went on a private mission to find his brother. Ral 'Daman began to scout through the city, providing the Sangheili with useful information. Shortly after killing a married man, Tir-D-yar left his hiding spot and was minorly wounded by Codename: BANE, an ONI operative. The humans of Terrador did not respond well to the Sangheilian presence, and numerous Sangheili were slain or wounded by civilians. Codename: BANE later attacked Stel 'Vadam shortly after he talked to Ral 'Daman, however Stel managed to evade the attack and forge a temporary truce to save his brother. Tir fixed his wound and after sending his new soldiers to attack the humans, ventured into the underground caverns in Lake Dawn. Stel and Bane later encountered Corez 'Vadum, and together fought against the humans, Jiralhanae and Kig-Yar. Meanwhile, another ONI operative came into contact with the UNSC, who sent in military personal to get him off the barren planet, but leave the others behind. Upon reaching the caverns, Tir revealed Ral 'Daman's presence and sent Kol-R-ah to tranquilize him. Kol failed his task but managed to escape Tir's wrath. Tir then began to slay every human in the underground as he approached his target. Rola 'Vadam, stuck in a bunker in the caverns following the end of the Battle of Reach, opened the windows of his bunker and noticed that the local hobo infestation had disappered. Tir then hacked into the system, and opened the door, in which he slain every human and robotic assistant in the bunker after capturing Rola. Tied up against his will, Rola was tortured for around 6 hours before Jiralhanae scouts engaged the Kig-Yar security Tir has called for. Tir locked the bunker down, and shut the down the shielding system of the underground caverns, causing the metal and rock to bend and shatter slowly. While investigating Orchanto Hospital, Stel and Bane fell down a hole created during the Battle of Reach down into a cave. Corez managed to stay on the surface and was hunted down by dozens of Jiralhanae. Stel found a hologram table which displayed a message from Rola stating that he was still alive. Overjoyed, Stel went to find his living brother, after meeting up with Ral 'Daman. The three fought their way through the Kig-Yar-Jiralhanae battle to the bunker, where BANE attempted to shoot Tir. However as Ral and Stel entered the bunker, a Jiralhanae incapacitated BANE before he could take the shot. Tir deployed an energy shield around him and Rola while Stel dueled an invading Jiralhanae chieftain, Gardinipus (who was wielding the long lost Fist of Rukt). Stel sawed the age old weapon in four and slain Gardinipus. Tir inplanted an electro charge and tracking device underneath the back of Rola's knee before retreating. Tir retreated to his ship. BANE returned to the surface, but was shot and critically wounded by a Drone. Tir, knowing of the weakening strength of the cave since he deactivated the shield, dropped a small bomb on the bunker. The ceiling of the cave collapsed, making the waters of Lake Dawn flood into the cave. Tir then activated the charge, giving the impression that Rola was dead while Stel carried him. Stel, Ral and Rola made it to a Wraith where they quickly ascended to the surface before they drowned. The explosion pushed a small wave into the Relentless Massacre, short circuiting multiple systems. The Wraith picked up Corez, and found BANE dying. The Wraith reached the Relentless Massacre and left the planet. BANE was medically treated and Corez was given a new mission, severing all orders to remain on Reach. Following this, Tir-D-yar found the leader of the Stranded humans dead and lead an onslaught against the leaderless Jiralhanae. With the security cameras and Jiralhanae scouts slain, the Kig-Yar army of 300 suprised the hairy brutes and near totally annhilated them. The remaining Jiralhanae captains and lieutenants banded together and dueled Tir-D-yar, Kol-R-ah, Ube-S-aw and Yir-T-sol. Initially, the Jiralhanae had the upper hand, however Kig-Yar aircraft began bombing the abandoned UNSC base, easily avoiding the illuminating plasma shots in the dark. The roof collapsed, killing Yidipus, Lonkarpus, Ternipus and Voltupus, and mortally wounding the remaining 'Honor' Guards. Kol was struck by a Gravity Hammer and was crushed by a falling Jiralhanae banshee. Tir then tired of the game and shot the melee armed Jiralhanae. Tornipus, official leader of the Jiralhanaen Reach forces after his comrades has died, was executed by Tir after his legs were broken. Following this, the Kig-Yar called for reinforcements and began recruiting. Soon the number of Kig-Yar loyal to Tir grew from a few hundred aspirants to tens of thousands in a matter of months, and continued to grow for the years to come. Operation: DECIMATON Eayn Civil War Battle of Terrador Mission to Jaraputo The Sangheilian Rebellion Tired of what they deemed as 'facism' rising in the Sangheili goverment, quite a large portion of the Sangheili soldiers stationed on Sanghelios were swayed by the persuading voice to rebel. They remove their rank and honor and took over the command posts they once guarded. Although the Confederacy did not notice that the soldiers had rebelled at first, they soon realised that the rebels meant buisness when they invaded and destroyed the Vadum state in which it's kaidon Rtas 'Vadum went missing. The rebels then began plotting to kill the Arbiter, Thel 'Vadam and his brothers Stel and Rola to remove the Vadam family's name from existance. Second Invasion of Te Aftermath The Great Schism caused billions of lives to be lost, mostly on the side of the Covenant Seperatists, UNSC and the Sangheili Confederacy. However, the Covenant Loyalists were permanatly crippled with the deaths of the Prophet of Truth, Mercy and Regret aswell as dozens of Chieftains and two Chieftains of the Jiralhanae (Tartarus and Keflus respectively). The Covenant Seperatists, seeing themselves as soldiers, not rebels, converted their goverment and their name and became the Sangheili Confederacy. Mainly due to the major econimical crisis caused by the Human-Covenant war, any casualties the UNSC took were critical, and very early in the war they lost a handful of SPARTAN-IIs on Onyx and lost Rochelle-108 during the Battle for Doisac. The first encounter with the Nartol and the Tivin species ended in bloodshed when the Unggoy launched a campaign on Azather which lead to the War of Propechy, which was quickly followed by Operation: DECIMATION. The main goverment of Eayn, and the Kig-Yar species, collapsed in 2560 when the Kig-Yar seperatists rebelled against the Loyalist goverment. Tir-D-yar destroyed the parliment buildings and the majority of the Kig-Yar clans and nesting grounds on Eayn were wiped out by Nartillian Special Operation Soldiers under direct order from Sintharia Rasker. The Yanme'e status following 2562 is left unknown by most of the sentient beings of the Galaxy. The Sangheili Civil War contributed greatly to the crippling of Sanghelios' defences, aswell as the destruction of multiple cities and thousands of innocent lives. By 2569, rationing was introduced on Sanghelios due to the war turning on them, which went on for multiple years. With the introduction of the Karidans, the Covenant Loyalists were arguably made more powerful without the Prophet's guidance, who obviously would not let such fiends join the Covenant. Econimically, the Loyalists were set back by the dissolving of the Covenant and the Battle for Doisac, in which the Jiralhanae homeworld was conquered by the Seperatists. The Karidans and Kig-Yar loyalists, however, have brought the Covenant Loyalists back to it's feet. Trivia *Endwar is an obvious reference to the term Endgame, which often features the end of an adventure, the last mission in a Campaign, or the end of an event. Historians often thought that the Great Schism would be the end of the Milky Way Galaxy, thus the 'Ending' of it, so it was nicknamed Endwar. Sources